Bard gets a bawdy and fun remix

July 03, 2008|By Chris Jones, TRIBUNE CRITIC

In the crowded entertainment universe, it's better to own your spot. Even if your niche is as seemingly esoteric as original rap versions (or, if you must, "ad-rap-tations") of the works of William Shakespeare.

That weird subgenre is controlled, utterly and completely, by two talented, Chicago-raised gentlemen who go by the names GQ and JQ.

Now you could well argue that the world really doesn't need rapping, rhymed couplets or chopped-down, sampled, reconfigured and ramped-up parodies of great works of drama. Formerly great works of drama.

But then again, it's a rare soul who has not attended some deadly rendition of Elizabethan theater and not secretly wished that someone would, well, funk it up a tad. And if it gets the college kids all juiced up about the Bard, who dareth complaineth?

And when it comes to funking up the Bard, the Q's are your guys. Their droll "Bomb-itty of Errors" turned into a global hit and is a popular international programming choice for classically oriented theaters desperately trying to get a few younger butts in their creaking seats. The Q's are one savvy pair. And they're now extending their brand.

"Funk It Up About Nothin'," which enjoyed its world premiere Monday night on Navy Pier, is headed directly to the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland where, I'd bet, it will do very, very nicely. For the Q's know what they are about.

Actually, I prefer this new show to its predecessor. For starters, the language is more sophisticated. Good chunks of this 70-minute show are exceedingly smart and funny. "Excuse me, now truly, did you just step to me?" says Beatrice (or as they call her here, MC Lady B). "I blew thee away because, dude, it's my duty / You checkin' my booty? / Too bad, you too fruity / Too dirty and snooty to get with this Beauty." It's clever stuff, if you're willing to go with the style.

That's actually one of the least profane sections -- "Funk It Up About Nothin'" is an R-rated attraction from start to finish. For example, the traditionally offstage moment where the evil Don John deludes Claudio into thinking his virginal Hero is untrue is rendered in full-frontal glory with the help of a blow-up sex doll. Trashy? Perhaps. Thematically inventive? Most certainly.

This is, by no means, a constrained rendition of the source play -- the fatherly Leonarto, played by GQ, is made to look like Uncle Junior from "The Sopranos" and Erika Ratcliff's MC Lady B has what you might call an unfettered appearance. And the plot is, of course, greatly truncated. If you haven't read or seen the play before, you may not be able to follow what's going on. And while some stereotyping goes with the territory, some of the gay parodies in this show seem cheap and potentially offensive. The show can be edgy-but-classy when it wants to be, and it doesn't need to pander in such a fashion.

But if you've seen too many "Much Ados" for there to be many surprises left, this lively and well-performed show will greatly amuse.

The female leads, Ratcliff and Elizabeth Ledo, are both terrific. And DJ Adrienne Sanchez spins a seductive beat.

But the show's best asset, is the presence of the fraternal authors in the cast. They're both killer performers (GQ is especially funny here as Dingleberry, a language-mangling rapper). "Bomb-itty" was never the same after they left. It's always best to catch a Q show before the Q's get bored -- and move on to the next play.